Family Ties
by LetsGiveThisOneMoreShot
Summary: A kidnapping and ransom doesn't quite go as planned, no matter how many times she tried to tell him it wouldn't.
1. Chapter 1

Sarah threw her backpack over her shoulder as she left the local YMCA. She helped out there giving kids swim lessons and helping them out with their homework. In exchange she was able to shower there and use some of their supplies. That really helped her keep her monthly bills low. She worked at a restaurant as many nights a week as they would allow to make ends meet, but there were times she barely scraped by. She didn't let that dampen her outlook though. She was always great with the kids. She always had a smile on her face and something positive to say.

She hugged her coat closer to herself as she walked home. She lived in a studio apartment a few blocks away. Most of the year it wasn't a bad walk. It could actually be quite pleasant. But this time of year when you could see the breath in front of your face as you exhaled was not one of those times.

She was heading down her street walking along the sidewalk to her building. It wasn't really in a great part of town, but it was what she could make work. And she did her best to avoid the shady people of the area. She was at her building now heading up the steps looking forward to sitting down inside with a blanket for a little while before she had to get ready for work. She had only made it up one step when someone had come up behind her.

"Excuse me. I was hoping you could tell me if you've seen someone I've been looking for." A tall man said. He was about eye level with her as she stood on the stoop. He had a black knit had covered the tip of his eyes. He wasn't someone that she had seen around here before.

"I just came from down that way and I didn't pass anyone." Sarah replied.

"Do you mind if I show you a picture? Maybe you've seen her around and can point me in the right direction?"

"Sure." Sarah answered with a smile. She was cold and really just wanted to get inside, but she wasn't the type of person to turn away someone in need.

"She's about your height. Dark brown hair. Hazel eyes." The man said as he dug around in the pocket of his leather jacket. "Here we go."

She stepped closer to him to get a better look at the picture, but instead of a picture he held a cloth in his hand. He quickly pushed it against her face and wrapped his arm around her to try and prevent her from struggling. It all happened so suddenly Sarah didn't really have much time to react. She began to breathe deeply as she tried to get away, but that only caused her to inhale whatever chemical was on the rag. Before she knew what was going on she started to go limp. The man quickly threw her into the back seat of a car that he had parked right outside of her apartment and drove off.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah awoke sometime later in a small dark room, however she wasn't sure how much later. An hour, a few hours, a few days? There were no windows so she couldn't tell if it was day or night. And there was nothing to let any light in. She rubbed her eyes trying to get them to adjust to the darkness. On the floor was a blanket that she had been laying on. The room really wasn't that much bigger than the space of the blanket. All she could really make out was a door in front of her. She started to panic not knowing where she was, or when it was, and she couldn't find her backpack or coat as she felt around. She didn't think she was making much noise, but her breathing and rustling around must have been enough to alert the man who took her because a moment later she heard the doorknob turning.

The door opened and light from the other side came pouring in. She shielded her eyes as they had now adjusted to the dark. The man who she had first seen outside of her apartment building was now standing in the doorway.

"You know, you were much harder to track down, but a lot easier to get." He said to her.

"Look, I don't know what you want. You can take anything that was in my backpack just please don't hurt me." Sarah begged, even though she knew it wasn't offering much. All she had in there was her apartment key, an envelope with roughly forty dollars, a half eaten sandwich, and her swimming stuff.

"What I need isn't in there." He said bluntly.

"Wh, what do you want?" Sarah asked with a slight stutter.

"Your father's phone number."

"What?" Sarah asked, confused by his answer.

"I need your father's phone number. I couldn't find a phone in your bag to get it."

"I don't have a phone." She told him.

"I don't need a phone, just the number. So I'll need you to give it to me."

"I don't have that either."

"Don't play dumb with me. Just give me the number." He demanded.

"I really don't know it."

"Look." He said angrily taking a step closer into the small room. "You're worth more to me unharmed but I will hurt you if I need to."

"Please I really don't know it." Sarah pleaded as she crawled backwards as far as the wall would let her. "I've barely spoken to my father in the last five years. I used to have my brother's number. I can give you that one if you want, but I'm honestly not sure if the number is still his!"

The man let out an angry growl and stepped back slamming the door behind him. Maria sat there with her knees pulled up to her chest and let out a deep breath. This was starting to all click in her head now.

Her name was Sarah McMahon, part of the wealthy McMahon family. Not that you'd know that by looking at her. He father was one of, if not the most, wealthy and powerful men in the state Her father had many stocks, he was the owner of a few businesses, spent a lot of time with people in politics. He held everyone in his family and everyone he kept around him to the highest standards.

About twenty minutes later, the man opened the door and came back into the room. "I found this number. This is your only chance to tell me if it's right or not because if I have to waste my time calling the wrong number then searching for another one I'm not going to be happy. "

A few tears slid down Sarah's face. "I really don't know. Don't you think I'd tell you?"

"You might not. People do crazy things when their back is against a wall." He said to her, pointing out that that's where she was right now, literally and figuratively.

"Go and try it. It won't do any good anyway."

"How so?"

"Look at me. Do you think if I was still apart of my father's life I'd be living where I do? And not have a phone? Be wearing clothes that clearly don't fit because they're the best I could find at the thrift store?" Sarah tried to explain. "He's not going to give you anything. So can you please just let me go so I can get to work, if I'm not late already. I really need the job." She begged, a mixture of emotions coming out in her voice.

"Nice try. But people in your situation could say anything to get out of it. And with all that fancy upbringing you had, I bet you're one hell of an actress and good at crying to get what you want. You just better hope this phone number is the right one." He said strongly before closing and locking the door once more.


	3. Chapter 3

"Hello, may I please speak to Vincent McMahon?"

"Speaking." The man on the other end of the phone bellowed.

"Hello sir. I'm glad I caught you. I wanted to discuss a business proposition with you."

"Who is this?"

"That isn't important. What is important is what I have. Your daughter."

"What kind of a sick joke is this?"

"Sick maybe. But joke, no. I have her So if you'd like her safe we should discuss profit."

"I can still hear her playing the piano in the other room. She was just in there ten minutes ago when I came in."

"That would be your oldest daughter, but I have the youngest one."

The stranger heard what sounded to him like a sigh of relief coming from the other end of the phone line.

"Oh, her. Well I'm sorry to say you grabbed the wrong daughter. That one's worthless. And it looks like she's your problem now."

Vince hung up the phone leaving the man slightly dumbfounded. Apparently Sarah had been telling him the truth about the relationship she had with her father. But he wasn't just going to accept that. He put too much work into this for nothing. He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and went back to where she was.

"Your brother's number. Write it down." He directed handing the items to her.

She wiped a tear away from her cheek and took the items. "I haven't tried calling it in a while, so hopefully it's still in service." She reminded as she wrote it down.

"Why is his the only number you have?" The man asked out of curiosity.

"Because he's the only one in my family who gave a crap about me." She replied handing him back the piece of paper.

He looked at her for a moment, almost feeling sorry for her. She looked up into his face. With his jacket and hat on earlier he looked just like a normal guy. Then in his home he stood in a t-shirt, tattoos covering his arms. His small eyes making him look menacing. However now, he seemed almost warm and normal as he questioned her. He wanted to reply to her, but he just wasn't sure what he should say, so he just took the paper and left.

"Hello, is this Shane McMahon?"

"Yes. Who's this?" The person on the other end of the phone answered.

"That's not important. What is important is I have you sister, I want your money, and you better not call the police."

"What? No, I just talked to her this morning. That's not possible." Shane said in disbelief.

"It very much is. I grabbed her on my way home. Funny though, she said she hadn't talked to you in a while."

"Prove it." Shane said, not sure if this was some kind of a scam.

"Sure, give me a minute." The man said and walked down the thin hallway to the closet. "Hey, good news. That still is your brother's number." He said as he opened the door.

Sarah looked up and sniffed. "Shane?"

"That doesn't sound like, wait...Sarah?"

"She is your sister, is she not?"

"Where did you find her?" Shane asked.

"Wasn't easy, believe me. But now she's going to stay with me until I get what I'm looking for."

"What do you want?"

"What is she worth to you?"

"Whatever you want. I only have a twenty grand monthly limit on my trust. I can get you that right away."

"That's a good start." The man said still standing in the doorway.

"How much do you want?"

"Make it 250 and you got a deal."

"Okay, 250. I'll find a way to get the money."

"Good. You got an hour to come up with a plan, then I will call you back. If you don't answer your sister will lose something that's attached to her." With that he hung up the phone. "A trust huh. Do you have one of those too? We could go hit that up also."

"Not anymore." She answered.

Shane came bursting through the door of his father's house in a panic.

"Dad, we need to go get money!"

"Calm down son, what do you need?"

"I need two hundred fifty thousand. Maybe you can sign out more of my trust, and maybe Steph will let me use her money this month too, then if you could pay whatever the rest is…"

"Hold on, what do you need that much money for?"

"Sarah. Some guy just called me and he said he has her. We need to get him the money so he'll let her go safely."

His father sighed. "Yeah, I got that call too. Didn't quite get that far to discuss money amounts though."

"Well come on, we need to get going!"

"Shane, that is a lot of money."

"What are we splitting money for?" Stephanie asked as she walked into the room.

"Steph, I need your monthly allowance. I need it to help Sarah."

"Hell no, she's not getting any of my money." Sarah said almost sounding disgusted.

"But she's your sister. And your daughter! How can you not want to help her!"

"She hasn't been my daughter since she decided she didn't want to be a part of this family anymore." Vince said matter of factly.

"She never said she didn't want to be a part of this family, all she said was…"

"And if you're not careful, you're going to end up in the same boat. I suggest you cut all contact and forget this happened. Bad things happen when you associate with people like that." Vince said sternly cutting him off.

Shane turned around and left the hose without saying a word. He couldn't believe the conversation that he just had with his family. And he didn't know what he would do next. He knew he didn't have that much money on his own that he could have access to right now. But he knew he had to do something. While he was trying to think of a plan his phone rang again.

"Hello?"

"Well what are we doing?"

"I, I can go to the bank and get you the 20 grand now. I can try and take out a loan at the bank, but I'm not sure how much I can get."

"No Shane!" Sarah chimed in.

"'No Shane' is right. That isn't a guaranteed amount of money. What if I only end up with thirty grand? That isn't enough."

"Shane, don't do it Don't worry about me. I'll be fine." Sarah said loudly hoping she'd be able to hear him.

"I beg to differ." The man with her said.

"Look, if you're going to threaten her, I'll just call the cops."

"You do that and she's dead. You don't know where she is or who I am. You'll never find her."

He hung up the phone and left the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry about the lack in updates. Unfortunately sometimes unexpected things come up and life gets in the way. But I am still working hard on this. It is NOT on hiatus. **

This time he left the door open. Sarah thought about trying to run out, but before she could even stand up he was back at the doorway. He tossed a water bottle on the floor near her. "What's with your family? Are people with money always this weird?"

She just shrugged. "I wouldn't know. Speaking of that, can I please use your phone just to call my work? Unless you are planning on killing me then I guess it doesn't matter."

"Is that really all you're worried about? You sound like you're as scared of that are you are of me."

"Kind of, yeah. If I get out of this mess I would still like to have a place to live. Getting fired for not showing up really doesn't look good on job applications."

"What happened to you?" He asked as he leaned up against the doorway crossing his arms. Sarah just shrugged. "No, really, what did you do to ave your family turn on you like that? Get into heavy drugs? Get knocked up at a young age?"

"I wanted to work with kids." Sarah answered lowly.

"Come again?"

"I wanted to go to school for education and work with kids. I wanted to do that instead of work in the family business."

"And for that they throw you to the wolves?" He asked surprised.

"I thought it'd be fine since my siblings planned on continue in dad's footsteps, but apparently not. Dad saw it as turning my back on the family and disrespecting everything he worked for So he kicked me out." She explained.

"And your mom, passed right?"

"When I was seven." Sarah nodded.

"What about your brother and sister?"

"Steph only ever cared about money and what it could get her. And she's always had dad wrapped around her finger. Shane was the only one that really treated me like a person. But dad was always threatening him. And then he got married and started his own family, and he slowly started to pull away."

He looked at her and he could see the sadness in her eyes. "I guess you weren't kidding then huh?"

"At least I've always been able to keep my head above water." She really tried hard to make the best out of everything.

He stood there for a minute, as if studying her, before excusing himself and shutting the door behind him again. She sat there in the dark holding herself. Even though they had seemed to be having a pretty easy going conversation, she was still afraid. She was just proving to him now that her family wasn't going to fulfill his plan And she knew she had nothing to give him He clearly took her for money, and even though she was able to survive, it was just barely. There was nothing back at her apartment worth anything that she could give him. She didn't know what to do. She was trying to come up with anything.

Before she was able to think of anything the door opened again.

"So I noticed you had some food stashed in your backpack. Did you want it?" He asked holding up her wrapped sandwich.

Sarah faltered slightly. She was taken aback by his kindness, but she was also nervous. She had no reason to trust him so she wondered if there was a reason he was being nice.

"Relax. I didn't poison it. I still need you alive." He said, sensing her uneasiness.

"Yeah, sure." She answered.

He tossed it over to her.

"Thanks." She said in a small voice.

"You can also come out here if you want. As long as you do everything I tell you and don't touch anything." She nodded nervously. "And you can call me Aleister."

He walked away from the doorway again, but this time leaving the door open. She really wanted to get out of the cramped dark room she was in. Possibly look around and be able to find some way to escape. But she was worried that this was some kind of trap. She slowly stood up and walked towards the doorway. She peeked out and it looked like she was being held in a large closet off of the hallway. She had expected to see a dimly lit run down place with the lights flickering and wallpaper peeling off of the walls. However that wasn't the case. You could tell that the apartment belonged to a bachelor, but it was kept clean and didn't look dangerous.

Sarah slowly walked towards the living area she could see from the doorway. There was a leather sofa, a glass coffee table, a large television, an extensive video game collection, and some odd artwork on the walls.

"What?" He asked as he came up behind her, noticing the look on her face.

"Nothing...it's just, interesting." She replied.

Aleister smiled. "Yeah, not everyone can appreciate my artwork I guess."

"You did these?" She asked surprised.

"Yeah. Most of them ended up becoming tattoos."

"So, you're a tattoo artist?"

"Well, I can draw. I have equipment. However I do not have a license. And the tattoo shops around here kind of appreciate that."

"It doesn't seem like you you really let the law stop you." Sarah stated.

He chuckled. "Me, no. However the tattoo shops are another story. They won't hire because they're afraid of getting in trouble. So I do it out of my home."

"Ah, there's the illegal part."

"Indeed. You can sit down if you want."

Sarah did take a seat on the couch. She wasn't sure if that was just to make her comfortable or if it was more of a command, and she didn't want to risk anything.

"So, I need to eat to and I just ordered a pizza. You can have some when it gets here if you want." Aleister offered.

"Okay." Sarah whispered.

He sat down on the couch next to her. "You should also probably know that I called your brother again and told him he had until Monday to get me fifty grand if he wanted to see you alive."

"What day is it?" Sarah asked still unsure of how long she was out.

"It's still Friday." Aleister told her.

"What did he say to that?" Sarah questioned.

"Honestly, I didn't really give him much of a chance to answer. I told him the new situation and hung up. Although he did seem receptive."

"Situation?"

"Well, I was trying to get more than fifty grand. Told him he had to deliver that to see you alive. And another hundred grand to get you back. Hopefully big brother comes through." He said as he tapped her leg.

There was something about the way he talked that filled Sarah with some kind of comfort. She really couldn't explain it. He seemed sadistic and scary, his body seemingly covered in tattoos. He had threatened her directly and indirectly. But there was something about the way he smiled, it made his whole face seem kind. It wasn't scary.

A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. The smile on his face disappeared.

"Get in the closet." He said to her.

"What?" She asked shakily. "Why?"

"Keep your voice down." He said as he grabbed her wrist. "Be quiet, and get in the closet. I can't have anyone see you."

He pulled her up and walked behind her to the closet. After she entered she turned around and looked at him. He closed and locked the door behind her.


	5. Chapter 5

As Sarah stood alone in the closet she could feel her breathing becoming more shallow. After what he had just told her, she didn't know what to think or what would come of her. She heard muffled voices from the other side of the door but couldn't make anything out. She was also cursing herself because in the small time she was out of the closet, she was making sure she aid close enough attention to him that she forgot to look for anything that could help her. She also wasn't sure if she was going to get another chance to be out of the closet. It felt like the walls were closing in on her making the small space she was in even smaller. She heard the front door slam then silence. She couldn't hear anything at this point over her own heavy breathing. She didn't hear his footsteps come back to the closet and open the door. Her not knowing what waited for her outside, she almost wished he didn't.

"You can come out again if you want." Aleister said to her.

Sarah didn't really want to leave, but she also had to know what was out there. She didn't see anyone else as she peeked out of the closet, and she didn't hear Aleister talking to anyone.

"The pizza is here. Had to shove you back in there because I can't risk anyone seeing you. Even a delivery guy. Just in case. I'm sure you understand."

She noticed there was a pizza box on the coffee table. And that did make sense, she did understand, but she didn't like it at all.

"Go on, eat. I'm not sure when you did last and I need you to keep yourself up."

His generosity was mixed in with his own weird needs which made her weary. But the smell of the pizza was intoxicating. She hadn't eaten in a while. And she couldn't remember the last time she had a hot meal, rather than just whatever she had at home and was able to find cheap. She sat back down on the couch and took a slice after he had. He was sitting on the couch next to her. For a while they just ate in silence, but eventually they started with some small talk.

"You have a lot of nice things here." Sarah pointed out.

"Thanks. You only go around this world once, might as well fill your time and place with what you enjoy." Aleister said to her.

"Why do you feel the need to do such drastic things like kidnap people for money. You clearly have a talent. Why don't you work at that instead?" Sarah asked.

"I told you, I don't have a license. No use putting the time and money into one when no one will hire a guy with a record." He answered.

"Then where did you get all the money for this stuff?" She asked.

"Probably better if we implement a don't ask don't tell policy. Let's just say I make my money illegally tattooing people out of my home and leave it as that." Aleister said to her as he stood up.

Maybe that was better she didn't know. She didn't know if he stole what he had, or had done illegal things for the money to buy it, and it really didn't matter. It's not like it changed her situation at all. She decided to take this time to remind herself to survey the area she was in. She looked around and didn't see a telephone anywhere. She did however see two small windows in the living room she was in, but she didn't know if they opened or were locked. She also realized she didn't know what floor she was on, or if there was any way to the ground, but it was something. She saw the front door. She was sure it was locked, but it was just a normal door. No crazy locking systems or codes or anything. She looked around for anything that she could maybe use as a weapon if need be, but she was snapped out of her thoughts and jumped when Aleister cleared his throat.

"Well, this is probably going to be a little bit awkward for you, but I'm ready to go to bed. Which means you're either going back in the closet or in the room with me." He stated.

It seemed like he was giving her a choice, but he wasn't giving her much time to think.

"What do you say?"

"Closet." Sarah answered right away.

Of course she didn't want to spend all night in the cramped dark closet, but it was a better option than sharing a bed with an admitted criminal. At least she would be able to keep herself somewhat safe in there.

"If that's what you want, come on."

She got up off the couch and walked over to him and he walked he to the bathroom. He was going to allow her to use it of course, but didn't trust her to be in there by herself. She tried to refuse, but he pretty much told her it was either him stay in there with her or she wasn't going to be able to use it. She tried to be as quick as she could. When she was finished, he took her by the arm and led her back into the closet. He locked the door behind her and she sat down on the blanket that was in there. She wasn't sure if she would be able to get any sleep tonight with everything that was going on. She was thankful that at this point she hadn't been hurt, but she didn't know what the future held. She knew that Aleister had been in jail. But she didn't know for what. She wanted to know, but maybe he was right and it was better that she didn't.

She had waited about an hour after she hadn't heard any more noise in the apartment before she tried to rattle the doorknob and see if there was any way she could get it open. She had tried pushing on the door hoping it had been weak but still nothing. If she could just get the door open, she could run to the front door and get out, but she couldn't get the door to budge. She let out a frustrated sigh and leaned against the door. She didn't want to give up, but she didn't want to end up making too much noise and wake Aleister up. She eventually must have been so exhausted she fell asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

She was woken the next morning by light blaring onto her.

"Good morning Sunshine!" She heard Aleister say in the doorway.

Sarah groaned as she tried to shield the light. She was curled up on the floor, and now that she was awake realized she was very uncomfortable. Her body was aching from sleeping curled up in a cramped space on a hardwood floor all night. She slowly set out and let out a noise of discomfort.

"Come on, you probably have to go to the bathroom."

Sarah slowly stood up and followed him into the bathroom much to groggy and sore to argue with him. After that he took her by the arm again and took her into his kitchen area. He had a small table with two chairs and sat her down in one while he sat across from her.

"So we have to call your brother this morning. Something about him demanding to know that you're still alive." Aleister said as he took out his phone and dialed the number he had saved for Shane. "Hello, Relax. Relax. She's right here. Sheesh."

He handed the phone over to Sarah, but stayed right there to keep a close on on anything she said or did.

"Hello." She said timidly.

"Sarah. Thank God you're okay. You are okay aren't you?" Shane frantically asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Okay, good. Do you know where you are?"

"No. I really don't." Sarah answered.

"Don't worry. I'm going to get you out of there." He assured her.

"Shane please, I'll be okay. You need to worry about Marissa and the boys." Sarah tried to say.

"I need to worry about you too." Shane said.

"But what about dad…"

"Screw dad. You're my sister and I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you." Shane said rather aggressively.

Sarah found herself smiling then Aleister ripped the phone out of her hand.

"Okay, happy? You know she's alive. If you want to see her alive, you better have the money." He said sternly then hung up. "What were you smiling about?"

Sarah slightly shrugged. "It's just kind of nice knowing that he's actually worried about me."

"So much for none of them caring about you huh?"

"To be fair, I did say my brother was the only one who did." Sarah reminded, "So, what happens now?"

"Now we stay here until it's time to meet with him." Aleister answered.

"Then what?"

"Then if he has the money he can see you. So hopefully he has the money."

"And after you get the money I can go?" She asked.

"After I get the full amount yeah. You're stuck with me until then. Consider this a down payment."

Sarah looked at him nervously. She wasn't sure how long she would be there with him or what her time there would entail. And he was a very intimidating looking man. His tattoo's and stern face made him menacing looking enough. Add in the fact that he was a large muscular man who she didn't know what he was capable of, she was worried. Also the fact that no one knew she was even gone. He had taken care of her work. The only other person who might notice her missing is the older woman she talked with who worked at the YMCA. But even if she did happen to report Sarah missing, they wouldn't do anything about it. Some poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks stops showing up to the YMCA, they would only look into that for about 3 minutes. She was sitting on her hands trying not to fidget in her seat.

"So, I have eggs and toast. Is that okay?" Aleister offered breaking her thought process.

"For?" Sarah asked.

Breakfast. I can't have you passing out on me or something. That would make my job a lot harder." He said with a smile. "You can sit here while I cook, just don't even think about going anywhere near the knives. Trust me, I'll get to them before you can."

He stood up and went over to the fridge taking out a carton of eggs and grabbing a frying pan. "All I really have here to drink is water and beer so you'll have to make due with that." He said as he began to cook.

There was something about him standing at the small stove with a spatula in his hand that almost made him seem more human to her.

"Do you cook a lot?" She asked him.

"I guess. Sometimes it's easier to just do take out, but I enjoy it. I can cook up a mean steak." He answered.

He plated the food as the toast popped out of the toaster and sat the plates down onto the table.

"What about you?" He asked as he sat down.

"I've learned how to get creative with cooking." She answered.

"How so?" He asked as he ate.

"Well, let's say it was a bad night for tips and I only have a few bucks and change on me. I have to go to a store, and try to find things I can afford that can make a decent meal that I can stretch." Sarah answered.

"I should bring you over here a few times a month then on the times I'm too lazy to go to the grocery store. Save me some money on take out."

"You'd be surprised what goes together and what you can do with a little thought." Sarah said to him.

He chuckled. Then his phone started ringing. He picked it up and looked at the called ID and answered it.

"Hey Kevin...Nah, I got a job tonight. Probably won't be done until late so I won't be able to make it out...yeah booked this one a few weeks ago...okay, if it ends early I'll give you a call."

"You can go out if you want to." Sarah said to him when he was off of the phone. It would be a big help to her if he did leave for a while.

"Nice try." He replied with a smile. "I'm not leaving you here by yourself."

She sighed. "So what kind of 'job' does he think you have?"

"Tattoo work." He replied as he finished up his food.

"So he doesn't know what you really do?"

"The less they know the less they can confess."

Sarah nodded. Again, another chilling sentence but nonetheless one with a lot of truth.

"Do you actually have a tattoo job tonight?" She asked.

"Of course not. But I needed an excuse to no go out and to have him not just show up here."

"Have you done any of your tattoos yourself?" Sarah asked trying to break up the tension.

She could see that he had tattoos all up his arms and saw some sticking out of the collar of his shirt. She didn't know for sure if he had more, but she guessed.

"Nah. I have a buddy do them. It'd be too difficult to reach and do them properly." Aleister replied. "You were the rebellious one in your family, I'm sure you have at least one so you know how it is."

Sarah shook her head.

"Really? None?" He asked surprised.

"They're expensive remember? I can barely afford to feed myself." Sarah reminded him.

"What about friends? Don't you know anyone who could help you out?"

"I don't have any." Sarah told him. "All of my old friends went off to fancy schools and got married while I was sleeping on a park bench. And I don't exactly live in the best neighborhood as you've seen, so I try not to get too close to the neighbors."

Aleister had always thought of himself as a loner. Someone who was making it own his own, who didn't need anyone. That is until he met Sarah. Sure he lived alone and wasn't the most friendly guy if you came across him on the street, but he still had his sister. And he had a relationship with his mom up until she passed away. He had some friends, they got together. He chose the life he was leading now. Sure he grew up in a rough area and saw lots of crime around him, but his home had always been full of love. He chose this life because it was easy and he could do what he wanted. Listening to her story and how she was just thrown into the life she was living, he didn't feel like such a tough guy anymore.

"Have you ever wanted one?" Aleister asked.

"What? A friend?" Sarah asked with a laugh.

"No." He smiled. "A tattoo."

She shrugged. "I guess. I never really thought I would but I wasn't against it."

"Well come on then." Aleister said as he stood up. "I may be a criminal but you can make sure I'm not a liar."


	7. Chapter 7

Sarah wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. She had the idea that she was going to end up being tattooed, but she didn't know with what. She thought he was just going to end up being a practice canvas for something he wanted to work on. And at this point she was just hoping that she would be able to deal with the pain of it and get through it. But within the hour she was sitting on the couch in his living room, his tattoo equipment was out, and she had picked something out that she liked.

"Are you ready?" He asked as he sat in a hair next to her on the couch.

Sarah nodded. He peeled off the stencil off of her ankle and began drawing. She was able to adjust to the feeling relatively quickly. She became intrigued watching him as he shaded and colored the picture on her leg. When he was finished, he cleaned it up and she took a good look at it.

"What do you think?" He asked.

"It looks great!" Sarah said with a big smile.

"You know this means you can't go into a pool for a while." Aleister smiled.

She just kept looking at it as he began cleaning up his equipment.

"So why a sand dollar?" He asked.

"My mom and I always used to look for them as we walked along the beach. She used to always tell me that these were the dollars you needed to be happy. I didn't realize back then she meant that the memories were the important thing and not money. My childish self was wondering how many sand dollars I needed to collect to buy a Barbie."

Aleister laughed at her comment. "Well at least you have a good meaning behind it."

There was no doubt that even though they were having a good morning that Sarah was still his prisoner. She still wasn't allowed to go into the bathroom by himself and he never let her out of his sight, but most of the time it didn't really feel like it. They spent most of the afternoon on the couch watching movies and discussing them. She wasn't allowed to leave, but at least she wasn't locked away in the closet.

"Well I'm getting hungry." He said later on that evening. "I think it's about time we order food."

"Do you have food here?" Sarah asked.

"Not much." He replied.

"Can I take a look?"

"If you want."

They got up off of the couch and he walked her into the kitchen. He watched her closely as she looked through his fridge and the cabinets.

"Do you mind if I cook?" Sarah asked as she turned around.

"If it means handing you a knife, absolutely not." Aleister said as he crossed his arms across his chest.

"I don't need a knife." She told him. "Just two pots. The oven. And about half an hour."

She found some kind of breaded chicken patties in the fridge, some pasta and some jarred sauce in the cabinets that he had probably forgotten about by now. About half an hour later she had chicken parmesan and spaghetti with a season sauce.

"I didn't know this stuff tasted this good. If I did I probably would have eaten it a while ago." Aleister commented as he ate the pasta.

"It doesn't." Sarah said with a laugh. "But if you heat it up and add your own spices you can make it good."

"It's really good on the chicken."

"You just have to wait until the chicken is almost done, then put some on, sprinkle some cheese and put it back in for a few minutes. And instant Italian dinner!"

"I never would have thought of this."

"Creativity." She said with a smile.

"If you can keep coming up with stuff like this I just might keep you here."

Sarah strangely took that as a compliment. She was sitting at the table while he was at the sink cleaning off the dishes that they had used. He started chuckling to himself.

"What?" Sarah asked.

"Just thinking about what my sister would say right now." He replied.

"Why?"

"Me standing here doing dishes after you just cooked an actual meal that didn't require a microwave. She would probably have some smartass comment."

"Do you still talk to her?"

"Oh yeah. We talk a lot. We get together as often as we can. We take her kids to a park or something." Aleister told her as he finished up and turned around,

"You sound pretty close."

"We are. Always have been. Growing up it was just us and mom." He could sense that her mood started to go down as he was talking to her. "You know, your brother does really seem worried about you. He seems to care about you."

Sarah looked away from him. "Can we not talk about my family anymore?" She asked.

"Yeah, sure. Did you want to go back and watch some TV?"

She nodded.

The rest of the night was pretty quiet. They had the television on and there had been some comments back and forth, but not much actual conversation. Sarah seemed to have gotten lost in her own mind. Eventually the night was setting in, though Sarah didn't know exactly what time it was.

"Well as you know it's been a long week and I'm pretty tired, so I'm ready to go to bed." Aleister said to her as he stood up.

"Do you think maybe I could not sleep on the floor tonight?" Sarah asked him. Her voice was nervous almost as if a child asking their parent for something they know they shouldn't have.

"The only other place I can put you is in the bed with me." He informed her.

"Alright." She said sheepishly.

She really didn't want to be locked away again. The room was too small to sleep comfortably in, she was all cramped up. And sleeping on the hard floor all night did a number on her body. Not to mention the mental toll it took being locked away in a room with no windows or any way out if something were to happen. He took her into the bathroom before they went into his bedroom, the one part of the apartment she hadn't seen yet. She was surprised when he opened the door and she was a normal bedroom. She had expected to see a bunch of posters of naked women hanging on the wall like a teenagers room and weird things all over. But that wasn't the case. There was a closet, a bed, a dresser, a guitar propped up in the corner.

"Are you going to sleep in that?" Aleister asked as she looked around.

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" She replied in almost a joking tone.

"You have a few options." He replied.

"I'll stick with this thanks."

He walked over to his nightstand and pulled out a pair of handcuffs. When Sarah saw the, she felt her heart jump in her chest. She just stood there rigidly.

"I have to make sure you don't try to kill me during the night." He said to her. "You can always go back o the closet if you'll be more comfortable."

The thought of going back onto the dark hard flood made her cringe. And even though it was probably one of the stupidest choices she made in her life, she would rather stay there than back in the closet. So she was just hoping that whatever kindness hs had showed her so far would continue.

She shook her head. "No. I'll stay here."

He told her to lay down and get comfortable. When she was, he placed one end of the handcuffs on her wrist and the other he attached to the headboard. She tried to seem as calm as possible as he walked away to get undressed. He was only his boxers when he walked over to the doorway to turn off the light and Sarah could see that her assumption about him having more tattoos was correct. He had them on his back, across his chest, on his thighs, in addition to the ones she had seen. She gulped as she felt him get into the bed next to her. She held her breath waiting to see if anything was going to happen. He shifted around for a few minutes before being still. She breathed out thanking whatever God there was that he had just gotten comfortable and left her alone.

"ALeister?" She said into the darkness.

"Hm?"

"Have you ever killed anyone?" She asked.

"That's a pretty bold question." He replied.

"I think I deserve to know the level of criminal I'm dealing with." She retorted.

"You have a point."

"And maybe I can get some bonus points with my cooking and get a less painless death."

He laughed beside her. "No. I haven't killed anyone. Messed up some pretty bad when it was needed though."

"What were you in jail for?"

"Armed robbery and assault."

"Why?"

"Are you sure you want to get into all that?"

"You know about my past." She answered.

Sarah was right. Aleister knew a lot about her history. And he had opened up more to her than he had to some of his own friends.

"It's the life I chose. I've never been someone to put on a suit and work a nine to five job. I deal better with people who are like me, doing our own thing, watching each other's back. It's what I grew up around, it's what I know. We make our own rules and live our own lives." He told her.

"And hurting people doesn't bother you?" She asked. She had seen that there was a kind side to him.

"It's just how things were always dealt with where I came from. And personally, I've never _really_ hurt someone who didn't deserve it."

"I didn't think you killed anyone." Sarah said after a moment of silence.

"Why is that?" Aleister asked.

"A cold hearted killer wouldn't love the kitchen as much as you do." She said with a yawn.

The last thing she heard before she fell off to seep was his chuckle.


	8. Chapter 8

Sarah woke up the next morning hearing Aleister talking on his phone down the hallway. The sun was shining throughout the room and she actually felt pretty refreshed. Much better than the last few days.

"That's right. We'll meet up for the payment then you'll wire the rest...I'm not telling you now. I'll call you tomorrow morning and tell you where. Then you have fifteen minutes to get there. I'm not giving you time to get the cops there...Just keep your phone on."

He ended the call and walked back into the bedroom and noticed that Sarah was awake. She wasn't sure what time it was or when he got up, but he was already dressed.

"Morning!" He said awfully cheery with a big smile. "Bathroom?"

Sarah nodded her head, Aleister came over and released her wrist. They walked to the bathroom and Sarah was getting used to him just standing there.

"Do you think I could get a shower?" She asked him.

"I'd rather you didn't. I need you to look as disheveled as possible for your brother tomorrow." Aleister answered. Sarah nodded in understanding and hung her head in disappointment. "But when we get back you can get one."

They walked back out to the living room and Sarah was silent. Aleister could tell that there was something on her mind. She sat down on the couch and he still stood.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing." She replied as she curled her legs underneath herself.

"I know you're lying. Is it about tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry. Everything should go smooth." He said to her. She just nodded still looking down. "It's not tomorrow is it? Are you nervous about seeing your brother?"

"What if he doesn't show up?" She asked as she looked up at him and a tear slid down her cheek.

"Don't worry. He will. Trust me. I can hear it in his voice." He smiled when she looked up at him. "Now how about breakfast? Why don't I see if I can be like you and find something in the kitchen that would make a good omelet."

Sarah couldn't help but giggle as he walked into the kitchen. She stayed on the couch thinking about Shane. She hadn't seen him in a few years. He had just started dating his now wife when he began pulling away from her. His father wouldn't let her at the wedding. She had never seen his kids. She was hoping for a good outcome tomorrow. Maybe she could even try and leave with him.

"We still have cheese from last night. And I found salsa." Aleister called to her.

"Don't mix them together! They're eggs, not a pizza!" Sarah yelled back to him.

She stood up to go into the kitchen to help him when she heard some noises coming from outside of the apartment. She looked over at the front door just to see it implode into a cracking sound as the wood split. She stood frozen as several men dressed in black swarmed into the apartment pointing guns. Aleister came running down the hallway as she looked at him scared. He stopped and raised his hands up when he saw them.

"Police! Get down on the ground!" One of the officers yelled.

Aleister slowly dropped down to his knees while Sarah laid down on her stomach as quick as she could.

"Aleister Black. You're under arrest for theft, vandalism, and violating your parole." An officer told him while he handcuffed him.

Aleister rolled his eyes as he spoke. Another officer walked over to where Sarah was and began handcuffing her as well.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"You're under arrest too. We'll get your information when we get down to the station." The officer answered as he helped her stand back up.

"But I didn't do anything!" She tried telling him.

"Well right now you're in his home so we're treating you as an accomplice until we know otherwise."

The officer started walking her out of the apartment.

"Hey! She didn't do anything!" Aleister yelled to him as he started to struggle. "Leave her alone."

"Calm down or we're going to taze you." Another officer threatened. Aleister had been known to be armed and dangerous so they were ready to deal with him however they had to.

"Sure. We'll just take your word for it and let her go."

The officers walked both of them down the stairs of the apartment building and outside where police cars were waiting. Aleister and Sarah were placed into different police cars and brought to the station. There they were placed in separate interview rooms.

"I'm telling you. I kidnapped her a few days ago. I'm keeping her until I get the ransom. She wasn't even around when I was in that guy's store." Aleister told the detectives that were asking him questions.

"Then why don't we have a report on her?" The detective asked.

"Probably because I threatened to kill her if her brother went to the cops and he believed me. But you'll have to ask him." Aleister answered. The detectives looked like they weren't too sure of him. "Look, why would I make that up?"

"To keep your girlfriend out of trouble?" The detective suggested.

"Right. I'd put my life on the line and get myself in more trouble just to save some chick."

"Well if it gets you more jail time why would you be telling us?"

"Because you're going to relay that to the DA that I copped to it right away and cooperated with you. And then they'll go easier on me." He answered with a smile as he leaned back into his chair and crossing his arms.

They had gotten a very similar story from Sarah, who first was too worried to talk to them. They had asked both of them for the phone number of her brother to compare them, and the numbers were the same. When they actually called the number, they got the same story from Shane who claimed he was Sarah's brother and was supposed to meet up with them sometime tomorrow. He explained to them why he didn't file a report but he seemed very relieved that they had her at the police station. After everything seemed to check out they told Sarah that she was not a suspect, they worked with her as a victim, and she was free to go and they told Shane that he could come and get her. She was sitting beside a detective's desk while he was doing some paperwork on her case. She sipped the coffee they gave her as her leg bounced nervously. Soon she saw Shane barreling around the corner inside the building. He briefly stopped looking like he was going to ask someone a question, but then kept going when he saw Sarah sitting in the chair. She stood up as he ran over to her and he threw his arms around her tightly when he reached her.

"Thank God you're here. Are you okay? Do we need to take you to a hospital?" Shane asked frantically.

"No. I'm okay." She answered.

"Are you sure?" He asked again.

"He didn't hurt me."

Shane sighed in relief. "So what happens now?" He asked as he had his arm around Sarah's shoulders.

"Well he already admitted to everything, which is usually the toughest part. And we have Sarah's statements, so hopefully that will be most of what we need. We have him on other things too so maybe we can cut a deal with him and she won't have to testify or anything. But we will be keeping in touch in case you remember anything else and to give you updates." The detective told them,

"Thank you. You can reach me at my phone number." Shane told him as he shook his hand. "Thank you for finding my sister."

The detective nodded. Shane and Sarah left with his arm still around her shoulders.

"I'm surprised to see you here." She said to him when they got outside. "Honestly, I didn't think you were going to show up tomorrow."

"Sarah, get in." Shane said as he unlocked his car. "We need to take a ride and have a talk."


	9. Chapter 9

Shane and Sarah drove away from the police station in silence at first. Sarah didn't know what to say to him. She had so much she wanted to say. Years of pent up emotions. She just didn't know where to start. But before she could even think of anything to say Shane started talking.

'Look, I;m not exactly sure where to start. It hurts knowing you spent days scared wondering if I was going to show up. But I get why. And I have no one else to blame for that but me and I'm sorry. You have no idea how sorry. And I'm here now and I'm not going anywhere ever again."

"But what about Dad?" Sarah asked.

"Screw Dad! If he wasn't able to put his stupid pride aside for something like this and act the way he did then I don't want to be a part of that family." Shane answered angrily as he drove.

"But you'll lose everything!"

"He can have his money. I've done well for myself over the last few years. I'll be okay. And I can easily get a job elsewhere with the experience he's given me."

"But your family…"

"Sarah you are my family. I'm just so sorry I lost sight of that. I got scared when I was getting married. I needed a job, I needed to provide for my wife and be able to take care of the family we planned on having, and I was stupid. Marissa never really understood and I always just told her to not worry about it and refused to talk about it. But I refused because it made me sick everyday. I couldn't face it. Eventually, I tried to find you. I looked for you for months, but couldn't find a trace of you anywhere. I thought, I thought you were gone. And I hated myself for just letting all that happen. I'm not going to let it happen again."

"I, I really don't have much of anything to offer you." Sarah tried to tell him.

"I don't need anything. Except for a chance." Shane said to her.

"I want to. But I'm scared."

"It'll be okay." Shane said as he reached over and placed his hand on top of hers. "We'll go to therapy. We'll talk through everything. We'll do the best we can to mend the past and start over. We'll do whatever we have to."

"Do you think Steph will come?"

"Honestly, I don't think so. If I'm out of the picture it's just more money for her. Which is all she wants anyway." Shane answered disgusted.

Sarah knew he was right. Stephanie never cared about anyone but herself. She would like to have her sister back, but at this point it's not something she expected. They kept on driving until they came to a large house.

"You'll be staying here with me." He stated as he parked his car.

"But what about my apartment? And your family?"

"First off, you're never going back there. Second, I already talked with Marissa about it and she insisted You can stay here as long as you want to and we'll help you with whatever you need."

Sarah looked over at Shane and smiled as she grabbed his hand. All she ever really wanted was to have him back in her life.

Months later Sarah was standing in the yard watching her nephews play. Marissa was out there too making sure they didn't kill each other. She had been living with them in a spare room they had. Shane was serious about what he said. She wasn't just staying there for a little bit or until she got back on her feet. She really was welcome to stay there as long as she wanted to. And she was really enjoying getting to stay with her family.

They were waiting for Shane to get home to watch the boys so they could go out to the mall. Sarah had recently got a job as a receptionist so they were going to go get some more work clothes for her. Marissa and Sarah actually got along really well and enjoyed doing things like this together. She may not have Stephanie in her life, but she did end up having a sister anyway.

"Thank you for taking me out today." Sarah said as they were on the way home.

"You're welcome. I had fun." Marissa said with a smile.

"And thanks for lunch. I only really had enough from my last paycheck for the clothes. I'll pay you back when I can."

"Don't worry about it. We're happy to help. Besides, you do so much to help out at home. Cooking, watching the boys, helping with their homework. You've paid back in other ways."

Sarah really couldn't express how thankful she was for everything that Shane and Marissa were doing for her. She and Shane had been going to therapy just as he said they would. She was able to express all of her anger and sadness and they were able to get to a good place. She loved spending time with her nephews and being in their lives. She was building relationships with all of them.

"Hey, do you think we could stop by the post office since we're right here?" Sarah asked.

"Sure. But I don't see why you don't just use our address." Marissa answered.

"I do. But I've had this po box for a while so some things still get sent there." Sarah answered as they pulled into the parking lot. "I'll be quick!"

When they got home Shane was out in the yard playing catch with the boys. Marissa went in to get dinner started. Sarah took her bags up to her room. She sat on her bed and opened up the envelope that she found in her po box from several days ago.

_Sarah,_

_Glad to hear that you're adjusting well to your new life. Good to see that your brother stepped up and finally did the right thing. It's a shame it took such a bad thing to make him do so, but at least he did. Nice to see some good came out of it. For you anyway. But I should be out in a few months. I'm sure Shane will be pissed when he gets informed. But all they could really get me on was vandalism and holding someone against their will. Isn't the judicial system wonderful? I'm just glad they finally realized you weren't involved. Anyway, good luck with your new job. And if our paths ever happen to cross again I'll probably have some new creative recipes to try after being in here. _

_Take care of yourself Sarah._

_Aleister_

Sarah found herself smiling as she read the letter. She looked down at her ankle at the tattoo he had done for her. She never told Shane or anyone when she got it, just what it meant. She also was thankful they let her go. She realized at the time the police came in, she actually was free to go. He was in another part of the apartment and she was by herself, and she hadn't left. In some weird way, his trying to take her for ransom brought Shane back in her life. She almost wanted to thank him. Their paths would cross again one day, she was sure of it.

She put the letter away into a box she kept in the closet debating on if she wanted to write him back later or not. She figured she would debate on it while she went downstairs to help Marissa make dinner.


End file.
